Specter of the Past
by Oog
Summary: Thanks to SEELE's interference, NERV must confront an enemy from the past. While Shinji fights a battle for his own mind, his fellow pilots struggle against an opponent unlike anything they have faced before. (completed)
1. Specter of the Past

All characters, trademarks, song titles, etc. are from Neon Genesis: Evangelion, and are thereby properties of Gainax. That means I don't own them, because I am not cool enough to be in any way affiliated with Gainax or ADV or anything like that. So don't sue me, you greedy bastards.

This is my first attempt at writing a real fan fiction of any kind; in fact, at the time I started writing this story, I had only read nine or ten in my entire life, and only half of them were EVA-related (the other half being Star Wars). As a burgeoning EVA fanatic I found the idea intriguing and decided to give it a try.

Rating: PG-13 for totally awesome brutal mecha violence, mild profanity in English and German, and a brief scene involving Shinji and Asuka (no, it's not a lemon you perverts, put your pants back on :P). If you are really squeamish or have a problem with mecha violence and gore, then you may want to bump it up to an R rating for yourself, then decide whether or not to continue reading. Otherwise, here we go:

Next episode thingy to be inserted at the end of Episode 16 (Misato's voice):

"When the mysterious organization known as SEELE interferes with Commander Ikari's plans, NERV confronts an enemy from the past. While Shinji fights a battle for his own mind, his fellow pilots struggle against an opponent unlike anything they have faced before. It's the next episode, Specter of the Past."

Neon Genesis: Evangelion

Episode 16.25: Specter of the Past

(Takes place approximately between Episodes 16 and 17, though technically it would have to take place after Misato's interrogation by the Committee in the beginning of Episode 17. However, this scene could easily have been grafted onto the end of Episode 16, so it's almost a flashback as far as Episode 17 is concerned.)

Play intro; A Cruel Angel's Thesis

"I am concerned that Commander Ikari's goals may not be entirely in accordance with our own." SEELE Member Three's electronically distorted voice echoed briefly throughout the holographic council chamber, the only clue to his identity behind the "Sound Only" obelisk which concealed his appearance.

"Yes. Ikari is up something," SEELE Member Seven agreed. "It is imperative that we-"

SEELE Chairman Keel Lorenz cut him off, a bold move no other member of the council would dare attempt. The '01' on his obelisk glowed ominously as he spoke.

"Commander Ikari is the most qualified person available for the task. We have had no major problems with his performance thus far. As long as we keep careful watch over his operations it is most beneficial for us to proceed as planned, with Ikari as operational supervisor of NERV Japan Branch."

SEELE Member 3 remained unconvinced.

"What of the remains of the defeated Angels? Ikari and his research team seem quite interested in them. Perhaps they know something we do not."

"I believe that is simply a matter of curiosity. I see no immediate threat to us from NERV's studies of the Angels. However, neither do I foresee any real danger in moving them to a more secure location under the direct control of SEELE. It is therefore appropriate that a vote be taken by this council to determine the best course of action."

"Agreed," said SEELE Member Seven, betraying no hint of any animosity he may have felt toward the Chairman's previous disruption.

The vote was unanimously in favor of the proposal.

Lorenz's voice boomed throughout the chamber in his usual authoritative manner. "It is decided, then. In the interest of protecting our righteous goals, all remnants of defeated Angels housed in the NERV Japan Branch shall be moved to NERV Second Branch in the United States.

"Agreed," the others said in unison. One by one, their holographic obelisks faded to nothingness, until none but Lorenz remained.

"Ikari," he pondered aloud. "How will you respond to this?"

* * *

It was cold. So cold. Where was he? He couldn't remember. He couldn't remember anything.

It smelled of blood.

_Where am I_? He wondered. _Who am I_?

_You are you_, a voice said. It was soft and feminine, devoid of emotion yet not threatening.

_Who said that? Who's there?_

A shape appeared before his eyes. It was a young girl, dressed in the typical

Japanese schoolgirl uniform. She had pale skin, and short, icy blue hair. Her right arm was bound in a sling, and bandages covered her forehead, obscuring her right eye. The other eye glowed softly in a shade of deep red.

_Rei_.

_Yes_, the voice said. _I am called Rei_._ I am the Rei that exists in the mind of Shinji Ikari._

_Shinji Ikari. _I _am Shinji Ikari._

_Yes,_ the voice said again._ You are you_. _I am the Rei that exists within you._

_Rei..._

It seemed so familiar. All of it. Like he'd been here before.

_I'm dreaming_.

It all came back to him suddenly. The battle with Leliel, the 12th Angel. He had been absorbed into negative space, where the Angel had probed his mind as if trying to communicate.

But this was different; something wasn't right.

_Rei..._

For a moment, she looked just like his mother, Yui Ikari. It reminded him of a picture he had seen once. In the picture a young Shinji, Yui, and Gendou posed together as a family. They had all been smiling.

_Father._ For some reason he seemed focused on that word, as if something intangible was pushing him toward it. He felt an unspeakable rage boiling up within him.

_Father, I HATE you_!

Suddenly, Shinji was appalled at himself.

_Where did _that_ come from? _he wondered. _Sure, our relationship hasn't been the greatest, but that kind of hatred-_

_Father. _The rage hit him again, and he fell to his knees. _No! Go away!_

He pulled his head up, forcing his eyes to look at Rei. The bandages were gone. She seethed with rage, even greater than his own. He had never seen her this way. Her fists were balled tightly at her sides, teeth were clenched; her face was contorted in a look of pure hate. Her red eyes blazed as if they were literally on fire.

_Eyes_. The rage left him as suddenly as it had appeared. Why? What was it about her eyes that made him feel so... so...

_So... what?_ He wondered. _What is this feeling? It seems so familiar..._

_Eyes. _He looked back at Rei, still the epitome of hate. He looked into her eyes.

_Fear._ He understood what that feeling was, and with this understanding came the reality of that fear. Now he looked at Rei with the utmost terror.

_Why? he thought. Why am I so afraid of her?_

Shinji staggered backwards, falling to the ground.

_Eyes. Fear._ The image of Rei began to erode, tiny pieces falling away and crumbling into nothingness, as if she were a sand sculpture caught in a strong wind. Soon there was nothing left. Rei was gone.

Shinji lay curled up on the ground, trembling.

_What just happened?_

Slowly, shakily, he lifted himself off the ground. He was still shaking, almost imperceptibly, and his heart rate had not yet recovered. He closed his eyes, taking a deep breath to calm himself.

_Eyes._

Reflected in her eyes he had seen something he could not describe. It was anger, hate, and disgust, but it was greater than them all.

It was the look of nothingness. Of death.

Shinji screamed. The fear, the _absolute terror _he had felt just moments before, came rushing into him all at once. He screamed like he had never screamed before, as if every instance of pain, terror, and hate that had ever occurred in his life had all just happened simultaneously. He screamed. And screamed. And screamed.

* * *

"Snap out of it, you pathetic little worm!" It was Asuka.

Shinji awoke, panting, drenched in cold sweat. His face hurt.

Asuka slapped him again. "Stop screaming like a little girl, you'll wake up the whole damn building!"

Misato came running in the room. "Shinji, are you all right?"

"He's fine," Asuka replied angrily. "The little sissy was just having a nightmare. Have you ever heard of a boy screaming like that? It's really pathetic."

Misato took a deep breath, then exhaled, slowly. "What a relief. The way you were screaming, I thought something was seriously wrong."

"I'm sorry, Misato. I didn't mean to wake both of you up."

"Well, you did. And I for one don't appreciate it," Asuka snapped.

"Asuka, why don't you go back to bed and try to get some sleep?" Misato asked.

"Fine. But try to keep sissy-boy here quiet. Give him a pacifier or something." With that, Asuka stormed out of the room.

"I'm really sorry, Misato," Shinji said.

"It's okay, Shinji," Misato replied, sitting down on the bed next to him. "I'm not upset. Asuka's just... well, you know, Asuka."

Shinji closed his eyes, trying to block out the images running through his mind. It wasn't working.

"That must've been some nightmare," Misato said. "Are you sure you're all right?"

"Yeah, I'm all right. You should try to get some sleep yourself."

Misato yawned. "Maybe you're right. But only if you're really okay..."

"I'm fine," Shinji said, trying to smile. It wasn't very convincing, but Misato decided to let it go. Shinji was embarrassed enough already.

"All right. But try to get some sleep, too."

"I will." He was lying, and they both knew it.

Misato got up and started to leave. She stopped at the door, and turned around.

"If you ever need to talk, I'm here, Shinji. Never forget that." That said, she turned and walked out of the room, leaving Shinji to his thoughts.

Shinji looked at his clock. It was 4:30 in the morning.

He got up and walked out to the hallway, into the bathroom. Cupping his hands under the faucet, he splashed some cold water on his face, then stared at himself in the mirror.

_What was that dream all about?_ He wondered.

A slight trickle of water rolled down his forehead into his eyes. He blinked, shaking it way. As his eyes flickered open again, the image of Rei from his dream flashed before him in the mirror, her eyes burning into his very soul.

He cried out, stumbling backwards and falling down. His head deflected off the cold tile floor, and he lay there, groaning in pain.

"Damn it," he sighed. "I really am pathetic."

* * *

Dim light filtered into Commander Gendou Ikari's office at NERV HQ, Japan Branch. It was fast approaching noon, and already the day promised to be a scorcher. Brushing aside a bead of sweat as it rolled down his forehead toward his right eye, Commander Ikari glanced up at the man walking across the immense holographic conference chamber that served as the link between Gendou and the shadowy organization known as SEELE.

"Good afternoon, Commander," said Kouzou Fuyutsuki, NERV's second-in-command.

"Fuyutsuki," Gendou acknowledged, nodding slightly. "It is becoming quite tepid today. Has any progress been made on repairing the air conditioning units?"

"Unfortunately, no, Commander. As you know, NERV's budget is stretched to the limit with repairs and maintenance to the EVAs alone, not to mention such secondary considerations as air conditioning."

Gendou sighed. "Yes, you're quite right, Fuyutsuki. What did you have to report?"

"We've received orders that all remains of defeated Angels under study at NERV HQ, Japan Branch are to be removed to secure storage at NERV Second Branch in the United States. The Pacific Fleet is already on station to escort the cargo ships to their destination.

"This isn't the kind of thing the Committee would decide on their own."

"SEELE, then?"

"Indeed, it would seem so."

"What are your orders?"

"It is strange that SEELE would try to interfere with matters such as this. Perhaps our recent work has not gone as unnoticed as we had previously believed." He paused, pushing his orange glasses higher up the bridge of his nose. "We are not yet in a suitable position to defy SEELE on such a trivial matter. Until we are ready, our true intentions must remain a secret. Send an affirmative response through normal channels, and begin operations in compliance with our orders."

"Yes, sir." Fuyutsuki turned crisply and walked out of the office.

Gendou adjusted his feet in the bucket of icy water and sighed.

"Quite tepid indeed."

* * *

Ritsuko Akagi watched angrily as technicians, bureaucrats, and other assorted laborers swarmed over the Angel remains kept within NERV's Geo Front. Disposing of defeated Angels was an expensive prospect. The location and immense open space within the Geo Front, as well as its position well out of view of the public eye, made it an ideal containment site for the Angelic refuse. Much of the material had been put into storage there, particularly that which held the most interest for scientific research.

"Damn it to hell!" she fumed. "These Angels were all defeated by EVAs from the Japanese Branch of NERV. _We_ are the ones who fought them. _We_ are the ones who continue to fight them. _We_ should be the ones with access to study them. What right do they have to take them from us?"

"The orders came directly from the UN," said Maya Ibuki, Ritsuko's trusted assistant. "There's nothing we can do."

Ritsuko sighed. "I know. But why now? Why didn't they do anything like this before, with the first Angel in this wave of attacks?"

Maya sighed as well. She hated it when Ritsuko was stressed like this and there was nothing she could do to help. She looked out the viewport as dozens of heavy lifting machines worked together to move the remains of Samshel, the 4th and most posthumously intact Angel.

"And the way they're moving them- they're just throwing them together in a huge pile and stuffing them onto the biggest cargo vessels they could find. They act as if they're simply taking out garbage. There is so much we don't know about the Angels, so much data to collect, so many discoveries to be made... DAMNIT!" Ritsuko pounded her fist against the window.

Maya checked her watch. "The synchronization tests start tomorrow morning at 1100. Didn't you say you wanted to run some system diagnostics on the interface equipment before then? If we start now, maybe we won't have to stay late tonight."

Ritsuko sighed. "You're right. Let's go."

Looking once more at the workers, she turned to leave, muttering something about "meddling UN bastards." Maya was right behind her.

* * *

The Tokyo-3 dockyard was quiet in the evening. After a long day of intensive labor, work crews from the Pacific Fleet and the dockyard itself had managed to load all the Angel material onto the fleet's cargo vessels. Much of it fit onto the _USS Fairweather_, the largest transport ship available to the UN task force. The ship was ancient, but reliable; and above all else, it was massive: easily bigger than a supercarrier, and with more storage capacity. Plus, the interior was modular and easily customized to have hundreds of cargo bays or, as it had now, one enormous cargo bay. Contained within it were the majority of the Angel parts, including Samshel, all piled together in a mass grave of otherworldly monsters. A few other cargo vessels carried some larger pieces of various Angels that wouldn't quite fit in the _Fairweather_'s hold. Security guards and night shift technicians stood scattered about, engaged in idle conversation or otherwise looking bored.

One security guard patrolled along the port side of the _Fairweather_. Idly, he shined his flashlight through a side hatch currently open for ventilation. The light reflected off the enormous corpse of Samshel, coated in an unknown slimy substance and various other Angel bits.

He whistled. "That is one ugly son of a bitch."

Shrugging, he turned and continued his patrol.

Behind him, in the bowels of the ship, something squirmed.

* * *

Shinji woke up screaming again, with Asuka doing her best to slap some sense into him. He could always tell she was angry when she let German slip into her speech patterns as she berated him.

"What the hell is wrong with you!"

_Slap._

"That's two days in a row you've woke me up screaming like a baby at four o'clock in the morning!"

_Slap._

"Verdammter mist, sie sind ein schmerz im esel!"

_Slap._

"All right, all right, I'm sorry! Please stop hitting me!"

_Slap._

"Grow some backbone, you spineless little worm! You're so infuriating!" With that, Asuka turned and stormed out of the room, passing by Misato on her way out.

"Are you all right, Shinji?" Misato asked, sitting down next to him on the bed.

"Yes, I'm fine," he replied. "I just had that dream again, that's all."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"It's just like it was with the last Angel, when it tried to talk to me. Except this time it's different. Everything is... wrong."

"Maybe it's just residual effects from the contact. We know so little about the Angels, especially what contact with one might do to a human mind. As far as we know, you're the only person ever to communicate with an Angel, if that is in fact what happened. All we can do is wait and see. If this keeps up, I can schedule you for a psych evaluation."

"Okay. But if this keeps happening, maybe I should sleep somewhere else. Away from Asuka."

Misato smiled. "Give it one more night, Shinji. If it isn't gone by then, I'll see about scheduling that appointment and getting you some temporary sleeping quarters. Try to get some sleep."

"Okay. I'll try," Shinji said.

Misato put her arm around his shoulders, giving him a quick, reassuring hug. He blushed.

"We put you through a lot, Shinji. And for that, I'm sorry."

Misato stood up, smiled at Shinji, and walked out of the room. Asuka could still be heard grumbling at the other end of the hall.

Shinji lay back down and stared at the ceiling.

_What is wrong with me?

* * *

_

"Good work, Asuka. Synch ratio is at 74 percent; that's excellent." Ritsuko was in a slightly better mood than the day before. "All right Rei, beginning activation sequence."

"Affirmative." Rei sounded no more enthusiastic over the com than she did in person.

"Entry plug inserted," Maya reported. "LCL injected successfully into entry plug. Beginning systems activation."

The display began to light up.

"External power supply connected," another tech added. "A-10 nerve connection is operational. Harmonics level is 1.2, 1.4, 1.6, 1.9... systems nominal."

"Good," Ritsuko said. "Rei, are you ready? "

"Yes, Dr, Akagi. I am ready to begin."

"Initiate the synchronization test now."

Rei put her EVA through simple motions, such as moving the fingers and turning the head. Simulations were useful, but nothing was more dependable than hard data directly from the pilot's direct connection with the EVA.

Processing data," the Maya reported. "Analysis complete. Synch ratio at 68.5 percent."

"Looks like Wondergirl is running a little slow today," Asuka said as she entered the observation center, still dressed in her plug suit.

"Yes," Ritsuko agreed. "It would seem that you have the highest synch ratio. Again."

"That's because I take my job as an EVA pilot seriously," Asuka bragged. "It takes skill and concentration to properly synchronize with the superior systems of a production model Evangelion like my Unit 02."

Misato arrived as well, looking rushed.

"You're late," Ritsuko noted.

Asuka snorted derisively.

"Some role model."

"I'm sorry," Misato said. "Traffic was awful, and I was already running late. It won't happen again."

Ritsuko suppressed a laugh..

"Well, it _is_ just a synchronization and diagnostics test. I suppose you haven't missed anything _too_ important. We are about to start testing on Unit 01." She turned her attention back to the technician. "Status."

"Plug depth fixed at 3.2. Preparing to inject LCL."

An error message appeared on the screen. An adjacent yellow warning light began flashing.

"What's wrong?" Misato asked, concerned.

Ritsuko studied the screen.

"Oh, it's nothing. Someone forgot to refill the LCL reservoir." She moved to the loudspeaker. "Unit 01's LCL supply is depleted; please refill it immediately."

The blue confirmation light on the systems monitor blinked affirmative.

Ritsuko switched back to the EVA com frequency. "Shinji, we need to replenish Unit 01's LCL supply. It shouldn't take more than a few minutes. We will begin the test after that."

"Okay. I understand."

* * *

Daytime activities at the Tokyo-3 dockyard were in full swing. The area was crawling with technicians, sailors, merchants, laborers, and other assorted personnel. The docking berths were filled, as always, with military vessels, cargo ships, and private vessels of all shapes and sizes. The Pacific Fleet was almost done refueling, and would be ready to leave port soon. Scattered military and civilian personnel maintained the standard security perimeter for the area.

They were completely unprepared for the chaos to come.

A small group of civilian technicians had just finished refueling the _Fairweather_. As they finished disengaging the fuel hose, the great vessel groaned loudly.

"Did you hear that?" one of the technicians asked.

"She's an old ship. She's probably just settling out," said another.

"Yeah, you're probably right," the first one admitted.

Suddenly, the ship creaked even more loudly. The metal plates forming the top deck of the ship groaned as they bulged outward, then violently burst. The great ship exploded like a piñata, spraying the surrounding area with shattered bits of armor and Angel matter. Everyone close to the ship was killed by the concussion, and dozens more were crushed by falling debris.

Out of the shattered hulk that had been the _USS Fairweather_ came a beast unlike like anything NERV had ever faced, Angels included. Its frame vaguely resembled the Angel Samshel, and sticking out at odd angles from its sides were the electrowhips used by that particular Angel. But that was where the resemblance ended. Parts of the other Angels defeated by the EVAs stationed in Tokyo-3 were melded in seemingly random places along the creature's body, which was covered in what appeared to be scaly, organic armor plating. The left shoulder housed a great, fragmented shard of the diamond-shaped Ramiel, the 5th Angel, and sticking out of the thing's right "abdomen" were several black, spider-like "legs" and an acid-dripping sac reminiscent of the 5th Angel, Matariel. Two enormous tentacles sprouted from its spine, each ending a trio of large, crystalline spikes. It dripped with acid, slime, and other unidentifiable viscous substances.

Widespread panic shot through the nearby population in waves, fed by emergency sirens wailing throughout the area. The chaos was so severe that most military and security personnel were unable to get to their posts to put up even a feeble defense. A few Navy vessels managed to open fire, but were quickly pounded into scrap metal by powerful tentacles or cut to ribbons by flashing electrowhips. Scattered gunfire from handheld weapons bounced away ineffectively as the beast smashed its way out of the Fairweather's wrecked hull.

One brave group of defenders managed to organize themselves near some mounted defense turrets and opened fire. The center of their unit was crushed by an enormous tentacle, and the rest were enveloped in a spurt of acid from the creature's side. Most of them were dissolved instantly, but an unlucky few on the edges writhed in agony as their flesh slowly gave way to the corrosive fluid.

Many panicked bystanders were killed as well, dissolved by dripping acid or crushed beneath the beast's feet as it smashed through the facility's outer wall and plodded toward the city center and NERV HQ.

* * *

"We're almost done refilling the LCL tanks and will begin the test momentarily," Ritsuko's voice declared over Unit-01's com systems.

Shinji tried hard to concentrate on the controls of his EVA, as he'd tried to concentrate on so many things that day. He just couldn't get his mind off of the dream. He remembered it so vividly: the hate, the fear.

_The eyes_.

He shuddered. There was something about that image that shook him to the core. Something wrong. Something _evil_.

Ritsuko's voice came back over the com.

"LCL injection will begin in approximately 12 seconds."

Misato's voice was next. "Just do your best, Shinji."

Shinji opened his mouth to respond, but stopped. _Something is wrong, _he realized. _But what is it?_

He felt cold, invisible hands pushing against his temples. He jerked away, but his restraints held him in place. The phantom hands passed through into his mind, pervading every fiber of his being.

"_NOOOOOOOOOOOO!" _he screamed. "_Go awaaaaay!"_

LCL began pouring into the entry plug, filling the cramped space with the scent of blood. Shinji felt an incredible pain, as if the Angel Ramiel were drilling into his skull just as it had done to NERV's armor plating. He grabbed his head, screaming.

* * *

Dim light filtered into Gendou Ikari's office. He sat at his desk listening to Fuyutsuki's report on the previous day's events, idly shifting his feet in the bucket of ice water. It would need refilled soon, he noted.

"...removal of the Angel material and related data was completed yesterday by 2100 hours," Fuyutsuki was saying. "All available resources were assigned to the project, and work was completed without incident."

"And what of our research?" Gendou inquired.

"Pertinent data was copied and transmitted to NERV Second Branch. The original data remains stored in the local Magi computer systems. Fortunately, the majority sensitive materials and samples were stored elsewhere and thus remain undetected. We should be able to continue research without disruption."

"What did we lose?"

Fuyutsuki slid a small piece of paper across the table with several things scribbled on it. Gendou picked up the note and scanned its contents.

"I see," he said, carefully tearing the note into pieces.

"The UN disposal team did little more than a cursory examination," Fuyutsuki went on. "It remains undetected."

"Good. Without proper chemical restructuring, the failsafe will activate in a few hours. Molecular integrity will begin to break down, and by the time the Pacific Fleet reaches its destination, there will be nothing left but dust. As long as SEELE remains in the dark as to our recent advances we can continue as planned," Gendou said, unconsciously rubbing the Angel embryo implanted beneath the glove of his right hand. "What of our own personnel?"

"Most of them know absolutely nothing, and the rest know only what we have told them."

"And Dr. Akagi?"

"She remains oblivious to the true meaning of her research. It is unlikely she will suspect anything until it is too late."

"I see."

Gendou's personal phone rang. The red light flashing on the receiver classified the call as "urgent." He answered it.

"Yes?"

There was a pause as he listened to the voice on the other end, his facial expression betraying nothing.

"Understood." He hung up the phone, then looked back at Fuyutsuki. "What is the status of the EVAs?"

"I believe they are currently engaged in a synchronization test," Fuyutsuki replied.

"Good. Have them prepped for combat and put on standby alert. There's been an incident."

* * *

"Shinji!" Misato cried, rushing over to the observation window. "Ritsuko, what's going on?"

In the launch bay Unit 01 shuddered and convulsed, struggling against the bonds that held it in place.

"I don't know," Ritsuko said, puzzled. "We haven't supplied any power to Unit 01 yet. It shouldn't even be able to move!"

"Berserk?" Misato asked.

"No. This is different. I don't know what's going on, but it's definitely not good."

Misato stared despairingly out at Unit 01. The others did, too. Even Asuka was unable to hide her concern.

_Shinji is still in there_, Misato thought desperately. _I have to do something!_

"What is Rei's status?" She asked suddenly, shifting into command mode.

Ritsuko checked her readouts. "She is in the prep room. Shall I call her back?"

"Yes. Get her and Unit 00 ready as soon as possible."

Ritsuko moved over to the com. "Rei, we need you back in Unit 00 as quickly as possible."

Rei had just begun to decompress the seals on her plug suit.

"Yes, Dr. Akagi," She said, retightening the seals. "I am on my way."

Unit 01 tore free of its right arm restraint, roaring in what seemed to be pain or rage. The left restraint quickly followed, and Unit 01 tore completely free of its bonds. The EVA fell to its knees, clawing at its temples, and unleashed an inhuman roar. The EVA thrashed, howling, for several more seconds before collapsing to the ground in a heap.

Then there was silence.

The com crackled on. It was Rei.

"I am in position, Dr. Akagi."

"Good," Ritsuko said. "Stand by for further orders."

She looked over at Misato.

"Now what, _Major_ Katsuragi," she said, reminding Misato of her responsibilities.

Misato moved over to the com.

"Rei, I want you in position near Unit 01. We're going to send a rescue team to extract Shinji, and I want you there in case Unit 01 wakes up again."

"Affirmative, Major Katsuragi."

The technician pressed several buttons on the console, releasing Unit 00's restraints. Rei began moving into position.

Misato switched the com to the emergency channel.

"Get an extraction team to the cage. Unit 01 has collapsed with the pilot still inside. I want him out of there ASAP."

Without waiting for confirmation, she switched the com to a private channel linked directly to Commander Ikari's office.

Gendou answered on the other end.

"Ah, Major Katsuragi. I was just about to contact you. It seems an Angel has been spotted near the dockyard and is moving toward the downtown area. There is little doubt as to its intended destination."

"Sir, Unit 01 has just exhibited extremely erratic behavior and collapsed during synchronization tests," Misato said, careful to keep her tone calm and professional. "The pilot's status is currently unknown, aside from the fact he is trapped inside. Efforts are under way to extract him, but it is doubtful Unit 01 will be available for this operation."

"That is unfortunate. What is the status of the two remaining EVAs and their pilots?"

"Units 00 and 02 are fully operational. Rei is already in place, and Asuka can be ready in a matter of minutes," Misato said, suppressing her anger at Gendou's usual nonchalant attitude toward Shinji's condition. "All necessary personnel will be moved to the command center immediately to await further orders."

"Good. Major Katsuragi, I am placing you in command of this operation. Proceed at your discretion."

With that, Gendou severed the connection. Misato turned to order Asuka into unit 02, but she was already gone. She turned to the others instead.

"I want essential command and support staff in the command center now."

As the others filed out, Misato took one last look at the still form of Unit 01, and walked out the door toward the command center.

* * *

Upon arriving at the NERV command center, Misato was surprised to see Commander Ikari seated in his normal position, with Fuyutsuki at his side. It was not unusual for him to actively observe the operation under her command, but the way he had delegated the authority to her on the phone had suggested to her that he had more important things to do.

"You didn't tell me the air conditioning units were functioning in here, Fuyutsuki," Gendo said.

'Yes... well, that was a recent development," Fuyutsuki replied.

When Misato reached her station she discovered the others were already in place and waiting for her.

"What is the status of EVA Units 00 and 02?" she asked.

"Units 00 and 02 have been prepped for launch and are waiting in the cage." It was Makato Hyuga who answered her now.

"Good. What about the Angel, do we have visual yet?"

"It just passed into visual range," Shigeru Aoba replied. "External sensors are calibrating to provide maximum effective angle... completed. Projecting on-screen."

The reanimated Angel appeared on the monitor, and the entire command center went silent. Maya Ibuki shuddered and looked away. Gendou remained unaffected, as always.

Misato was the first to break the silence.

"Is that... the defeated Angels?"

"So it would seem," Ritsuko said, recovering as well.

"Scan that monster. We need to know what we're up against. And send a feed to Rei and Asuka. They should know, too." Misato's voice was firm.

The bridge crew sprang into action.

"Scans complete," Shigeru reported. "Data shows that it is exactly what it looks like: a conglomeration of parts from the Angels defeated by Tokyo-3 EVAs, formerly in storage in the Geo Front. Pattern: blue. It reads like an Angel."

"Have we found any flaws or weaknesses? Anything Rei and Asuka could take advantage of to bring this thing down?" Misato's mind was running in tactical overdrive.

"Analyzing... core detected," Hyagu said. "It is covered by the Angel's bio-organic armor in the upper chest region, but it is still there. Once through the outer armor, an EVA could penetrate it easily, preferably with a progressive knife. Also, its AT field is very weak. Heavy rifle rounds may be able to penetrate as well."

Misato switched on the com.

"Rei, Asuka, did you catch all that?"

"Yeah, we got it," Asuka said. "Crack it open and smash the core. Simple."

"Still, be careful. We don't know what this thing is capable of, so watch each other's backs."

"Affirmative," Rei said, enigmatic as always.

Misato walked in front of the central viewscreen, and turned to address the entire bridge crew.

"We've fought these things before. It's time to finish what we started. Launch Units 00 and 02 immediately."

* * *

It was cold. So cold. Where was he? He couldn't remember. He couldn't remember anything.

It smelled of blood.

_Where am I_? He wondered. _Who am I_?

_You are you_, a voice said.

_Who said that? Who's there?_

A shape appeared before his eyes. It was a girl, with light blue hair and red eyes. _Rei_.

_Yes_, the voice said. _I am called Rei_._ I am the Rei that exists in the mind of Shinji Ikari._

_No._ Shinji knew this was wrong. _I've been here before. It was wrong before._

_My head hurts..._

Shinji felt a sharp pain in his temples.

_Pain. _Somehow, the pain brought clarity. He remembered.

_Specific pain._ _I couldn't feel it last time._

_Why?_ Rei's voice.

Shinji stared at her. As he did so, she began to come into focus.

_My thoughts._ _You can read my thoughts. When I think about Rei, she becomes clearer to me._

The image of Rei strode forward, until they were face to face. Shinji could make out every detail of her pale complexion. He could even _smell_ her.

She leaned forward, slowly, and pressed her lips to his.

Shinji's eyes widened, and he tried to pull away, but she held on to him. He lost his balance and fell backward, pulling her down on top of him, straddling him.

_What is wrong, Pilot Ikari? Is this not what you want? To become one with me?_

Shinji felt the pain in his temples again, deeper, probing. His vision blurred, and he closed his eyes in a grimace of pain. When it cleared again, and he opened his eyes, it was Asuka on top of him, her uniform blouse hanging loosely from her chest, prominently displaying her cleavage. She licked his face, slowly, seductively, tracing a line up from his jawbone and over to his left ear. She stopped, playfully nibbling. The air felt cool against the moisture on his face.

_What's the matter, Shinji? Don't you want me?_

_Yes! _His body seemed to cry out. It took every ounce of strength he could muster to keep his mind focused on reality. _This isn't real. She's toying with me, probing my mind._

She rubbed against him, grinding her hips against his. He trembled, feeling his body react to her touch.

_No. This isn't right. _Despite what his instincts told him, Shinji's mind rejected this false reality on a deeper level.

_Why not?_ Asuka's voice asked him. _I know you fantasize about me._

_I do not._

_Liar. _

_No!_ He tried to push Asuka away, but she was stronger than him. She forced his arms to his side and moved her face directly over his. For the first time, Shinji looked deep into her eyes. They were blue. An endless blue.

_Eyes._

He felt pain again. His vision blurred, and it became harder to think. Soon, he couldn't think at all.

* * *

"Asuka, the target should be straight across from you, behind that large cluster of office buildings. Can you see it yet?"

Asuka looked toward the area Misato had indicated and walked forward, searching for any sign of the Angel. An occasional car or minivan crunched beneath feet of her Evangelion, but she paid them no heed. Property damage was a secondary consideration when it came to fighting the Angels.

Asuka leaped backward reflexively as bright purple electrowhips sliced cleanly through the base of the closest building. Two large, organic tentacles smashed the pieces aside as the Angel tore its way through.

"Yeah, I see it," Asuka reported, shifting Unit 02's rifle in line with the target.

"Good. Stay where you are and prepare to engage. Rei, move around to the left flank. I want you both to fire on the target simultaneously."

"Affirmative," Rei replied, moving into position.

Misato looked at the creature on the monitor.

_How is this possible? Those Angels were defeated. Their cores were destroyed._

Rei's voice came over the com. "I am in position."

Misato took a deep breath. "Fire!"

Units 00 and 02 opened fire simultaneously. The Angel's AT field flashed, deflecting the initial volley, then collapsed under the combined barrage. Pieces of its outer armor began to chip away.

The Angel roared, then charged at Unit 02, the Evangelion directly in its line of sight. Asuka dived to the side, barely dodging electrowhips as they slashed through the air where her EVA had been only moments before. She dodged again as the glowing whips came back around, carving neatly through the barrel of her rifle.

Rei kept firing at the Angel's back, chipping away at its thick, organic casing. As it charged Unit 02, she shifted her aim to the base of the electrowhip on the creature's left side, where the Angel's shell was visibly weaker. Unit 00's last few rounds impacted against the weaker armor, breaking the electrowhip completely off at the base and coating the nearby cityscape in a thick, dark liquid. The severed limb crashed to the ground, cutting deep gouges into the streets below as the last of its energy faded away.

"The Angel's offensive capabilities on the left side have been severely damaged," Makato reported. "Unit 00's ammunition has been depleted as well."

The Angel roared, turned to face this new threat, and charged, completely ignoring Unit 02. Tossing away the empty weapon, Rei drew Unit 00's progressive knife and charged to meet the beast's advance. The city shook as the two behemoths came crashing together. Rei slashed across, the knife cutting deep into the Angel's abdomen, but it was simply not enough to counter the Angel's superior mass. Unit 00 was driven back, its feet ripping through the concrete as it slid backwards before being knocked over completely. The Angel stood triumphantly over the fallen EVA, dripping its corrosive acid onto Unit 00's torso armor. The remaining electrowhip jerked high into the air, in preparation for a strike that would bisect Unit 00 vertically.

"Rei!" Misato cried.

But Asuka was quicker. Taking full advantage of the opening left to her, she charged the Angel from behind, hacking off its remaining electrowhip at the base with Unit 02's progressive knife. The fearsome appendage bit into the ground just meters from Unit 00's head, thrashing around and slicing deep into the EVA's right leg before coming to a halt, the last of its energy expended

The Angel howled, turning toward Unit 02 once again. Asuka slashed twice more before it could turn around completely, then deftly leaped out of the way as it lashed out with its two remaining tentacles.

"What is Unit 00's status?" Misato demanded, concerned for Rei's safety.

"Unit 00 has sustained serious damage to the right leg and minor acid damage to the exterior armor, but it should still be operational," Shigeru said, quickly scanning his readouts.

The Angel ran forward, tentacles extended; Asuka stood her ground, waiting for the right moment. At the last second, she leapt straight up. The Angel, caught up in its own momentum, crashed head-on into a cluster of office buildings. Taking care to avoid becoming entangled in her own power supply cable, Asuka twisted Unit 02 around in mid-air to face the Angel's exposed flank. Unit 02 landed gracefully, then dashed forward.

If the Angel had turned around to the right, the battle may have ended there. But it didn't. Instead, the Angel turned to the left, bringing its great armored shoulder directly in line with Asuka's attack. The progressive knife's blade snapped off at the hilt as Unit 02 continued its forward motion, its arm and shoulder grinding along the jagged remnants of Ramiel. Off balance, the damaged EVA fell to one knee and skidded past the Angel, completely vulnerable. The Angel lashed out with its left tentacle, a powerful downward blow that cracked the red Evangelion's armored plates and quite literally smashed the EVA into the ground. Both tentacles took to the air again, jagged spikes pointing downward for a final strike.

Just before the Angel could land the killing blow, Unit 00 came rushing in, hitting the monster from the side in a diving shoulder tackle and driving it into the side of a nearby building. The Angel squirmed, trying desperately to bring its tentacles to bear on its assailant, but Rei was in too close. Again and again the EVA's powerful fists crashed into the creature's armored hide, cracking through the outer layers and exposing the squishy mass beneath. The Angel roared, helpless. Witnesses would almost swear they heard it wail in terror as Unit 00 pounded mercilessly into its exposed flesh.

For the second time that day, the entire bridge crew was completely silent. Not a word passed between them as they watched the grisly spectacle. Maya Ibuki turned her head away, looking ill.

Misato tried to swallow, but found her throat was completely dry.

"Berserk?" she asked quietly.

Ritsuko checked her readouts.

"No. Aside from the damage, Unit 00 appears to be functioning normally."

She looked again at the display in front of her, eyes scanning the streams of data.

"Wait. I'm detecting higher-than-normal heart rate and brain wave activity in the pilot."

Misato's eyes widened as she assimilated this new information.

"You mean... Rei?"

Ritsuko nodded.

Misato accessed the direct image feed from Unit 00's entry plug on her private console. Rei's face was twisted in a vicious snarl, her eyes burning with rage. Misato couldn't believe it. She had seen EVAs go berserk on a number of occasions, but _Rei_ _herself_...

Unit 00 stopped its horrific assault, thrusting a hand into the pulpy mass. With a sickening crack not unlike the breaking of a lobster's shell, Unit 00 ripped a massive sheet of organic armor from the Angel's chest and tossed it aside. Beneath it the Angel's core sparkled, vulnerable.

"The core is exposed!" Makato exclaimed.

Without warning, another long, spiderlike appendage burst from the Angel's side, piercing straight through Unit 00's abdomen. The EVA roared, and Rei screamed in agony as the pain flowed through her neural link.

"Rei!"

Misato could only watch in horror as the Angel lifted the skewered EVA into the air and tossed it aside like child's toy.

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**END OF CHAPTER** xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

Next Episode thingy (Misato's voice):

"With two EVAs incapacitated and Shinji trapped in a struggle within his own psyche, the human race stands on the brink of destruction. As NERV toils desperately to salvage the situation, a creature is born with power beyond anything humanity has ever seen before. It's the next episode, The Beast Within."

Well, that's the end of chapter one. Did you like it? I hope so, but let me know either way. Please? Come on now, don't make me beg...

Chapter two is much better (I think it is, anyway), and much longer, too, with plenty of twists and surprises to finish up the story. I felt like chapter one more closely resembled the style of the episodes (which is a great thing to emulate), but in a way shows a lack of originality on my part. Chapter two, on the other hand, is much more creative, which is perhaps why I wrote chapter one in around four days while chapter two took me well over a month to complete.

Also, some of you may have noticed that this episode shares its title with a Star Wars novel. I noticed that myself, but not until after I had already written the title, so I'm sticking with it because it rocks.

Okay, last thing, I swear: Thanks for reading. Seriously. An author is nothing without readers. Go you!

-K.G.


	2. The Beast Within

EDIT: (July 23, 2005): Somehow, the text of this chapter got F'ed in the A and most of it disappeared, so I'm just putting it back up from the saved file on my PC. Nothing new.

All characters, trademarks, song titles, etc. are from Neon Genesis: Evangelion, and are thereby properties of Gainax. That means I don't own them, because I am not cool enough to be in any way affiliated with Gainax or ADV or anything like that. So don't sue me, you greedy bastards.

Thanks to everyone who reviewed/will review when they're done with chapter two.

Well, here we go. Chapter two. Trust me, you're excited :)

Neon Genesis: Evangelion

Episode 16.75: The Beast Within

(Takes place approximately between Episodes 16 and 17, immediately after Specter of the Past, after Misato's interrogation by the committee at the beginning of episode 17.)

Play intro; A Cruel Angel's Thesis

It was cold. So cold. Where was he? He couldn't remember. He couldn't remember anything.

It smelled of blood.

_Where am I?_ He wondered. _Who am I?_

He remembered.

_Shinji Ikari. I am Shinji Ikari_.

He looked down at himself. He was wearing his plug suit. He looked around at his surroundings.

_EVA. I'm in an EVA._

Which one was it? He couldn't remember.

_I can't remember my EVA. Why?_

_Because I have no use for you, Shinji._ It was Gendou.

_Father?_

_Look at you. You can't even remember what EVA you pilot. What use could I possibly have for a son as pathetic as you?_

_Pathetic._ Asuka's voice. _Third Child, you are absolutely pathetic._

_Useless. _Gendou's voice again.

_No! I have a use! I pilot EVA!_

_Nonsense. If you truly piloted EVA, wouldn't you at least know which one?_

_I..._

_Be quiet, Shinji. Your words mean nothing to me. How could I have produced such pathetic offspring?_

Shinji remembered.

_Unit 01. I am the pilot of EVA Unit 01!_

The lights came on in the entry plug. Shinji could see a gigantic figure through the viewscreen. It was Gendou; he towered over his surroundings, meeting Shinji's EVA face to face. His eyes were dark behind his orange glasses.

_Eyes. _He felt fear.

_I mustn't run away. I mustn't run away. I mustn't run away. I mustn't run away. I mustn't run away..._ Shinji recalled the mantra he'd used so many times before.

The entry plug disappeared. It was just him and Gendou, staring at one another in an endless sea of black.

_No._

Shinji gazed out at the visage of his father, stern and cold as always.

_That's not my father. It's taunting me again, probing my mind. But why?_

His head began to ache again. It was worse than before. Much worse.

He fell to his knees, clutching his aching skull. His vision blurred, then blacked out completely. Stars exploded behind his eyelids.

He screamed.

* * *

"What is the status of Unit 01?"

If Gendou felt any concern for the downed EVAs or their pilots, his voice gave no indication of it. In fact, it was the first time he had spoken since the operation began.

"Unit 01 is still in the cage and technically operational," Ritsuko answered him. "The pilot is still in the entry plug; however, his brainwave patterns are erratic and he remains unconscious."

"What? Why is he still inside the EVA?" Misato blurted out.

Ritsuko glared at her, obviously irritated by the unprofessional outburst.

"Pulse scans detected a class four neural echo. It is too dangerous for us to sever the nerve connection with Unit 01."

"Dr. Akagi, report to the cage immediately," Gendou said. "Concentrate all your efforts on bringing Unit 01 up to fully operational status."

"Yes, Commander." Ritsuko stood up from her console and walked briskly from the bridge.

Misato watched her leave, then turned to look at Gendou. His hands were folded at his chin as he gazed at the main viewscreen, deep in thought.

_Brooding would be a better description_, she noted grimly, following his gaze toward the viewscreen as well.

The Angel stood alone amidst the carnage. Aside from the slight swaying forwards and backwards, as if panting from exertion, it had not moved since overcoming the two EVAs.

_What is it doing?_ Misato wondered for the millionth time. _Why isn't it attacking NERV?_

She clenched her fists tightly at her sides, resisting the urge to pound the nearest console in frustration.

_Shinji, please wake up...

* * *

_

Ritsuko sat at her console in the cage's observation chamber.

_Okay Shinji,_ she thought. _What's wrong with you?_

She brought up Unit 01's status display, then accessed the pilot's neural interface. Brain wave and synapse patterns appeared on the monitor. To the untrained eye, they would have appeared as meaningless squiggles, but now they held a wealth of information under Ritsuko's professional scrutiny. She frowned.

_These patterns look familiar_, she thought. _Where have I seen them before?_

Chewing her bottom lip thoughtfully, she ran a search through the Magi computer system. She leaned back in her chair as she waited, closing her eyes and exhaling slowly. It had been a long day, and it was far from over.

The console beeped, indicating the search was completed. The Magi had found two close matches. Ritsuko brought up the first one, an archived spectral analysis graph.

"Pattern... blue. An Angel?"

She examined Shinji's brainwave patterns, comparing them to the Angel wavelength pattern. They were similar, but there were noticeable differences. Shinji's brainwaves were inconsistent, fluctuating around the extreme boundaries of the Angel wavelength.

_Still,_ she thought, _Something is not quite right..._

She backed out to the search results, accessing the Magi's second match. It was another Angel wavelength, except this time the scans showed secondary and tertiary layering, indicating the personal signature of a specific Angel. The 12th Angel, to be exact. Codename Leliel.

Ritsuko accessed Shinji's nerve readouts, plotting his synapse firing patterns on a 3-dimensional axis. Her eyes widened. Shinji's synapse patterns matched the 12th Angel'swavelength identity almost exactly.

_The pattern... But that's impossible! The Twelfth Angel was destroyed! Unit 01 ripped it to shreds!_

Ritsuko looked up at the inactive Unit 01 sitting silently in the cage. Its eyes exuded an eerie calm. Somewhere behind those eyes, the unconscious body of a 14-year old boy lay slumped in the pilot's seat, his mind lost to the realm of reality. He was humanity's last hope.

Her fingers flew over the keyboard as she searched Shinji's medical readouts for any clue as to what was wrong with him. She stopped suddenly, amplifying the depth scans of his cerebral cortex. She froze.

_Oh no._

The scans showed a pattern appearing on all four lobes of Shinji's cerebral cortex, almost as if something were being recorded onto his brain, like data burned onto digital media. There was no permanent damage yet, but in somewhere between several minutes and several hours (neurology never was an exact science), the pattern would be complete, and Shinji would lose control of his conscious mind.

_To what?_ Ritsuko wondered.

It didn't really matter. Shinji was running out of time, and there was nothing she could do to help him.

_Wake up, Shinji. Before it's too late.

* * *

_

Rei blinked. A few strands of her soft blue hair swayed like sea anemones at the periphery of her vision. A foul-tasting liquid filled her mouth and lungs; she almost choked before remembering it was LCL.

Tenderly she prodded her abdomen; there was no physical damage, just a dull ache, a reminder of the searing agony that had been transferred over the neural link. She had similar pain in her leg and throughout the rest of her body, mementos from the beating her EVA had taken at the hands of the reborn Angel.

Slowly she eased her hands onto Unit 00's controls. It was a familiar action, helping her to clear her mind and focus on the task at hand. The Angel was still out there. It was her job, her responsibility, her duty- no, her _purpose_ to defeat it. At any cost.

_I am not dead yet...

* * *

_

Makato Hyuga stared glumly at his control panel, monitoring the pilot life signs and operational status of the downed EVAs. This was the worst defeat NERV had seen since the 7th Angel, Israfel, had divided into twins and buried Units 01 and 02 headfirst into the ground. But even then the damage to the EVAs was relatively minimal, and the pilots were virtually unharmed. This was different; Units 00 and 02 were badly damaged, and the pilots were trapped unconscious within their EVAs with unknown degrees of injury. Even the pilot health monitors were malfunctioning; there was no way of knowing if the readouts were even accurate.

He almost choked on his coffee, spitting it back into his cup as a spike appeared in Unit 00's synch pattern. A few more spikes followed at irregular intervals until finally the pattern stabilized into the standard two-way transfer ratio.

"I'm reading an increase in Unit 00's psychograph! It's approaching normal active levels. Alternating thought patterns are at 80 percent and climbing!"

Misato's head snapped up to face the viewscreen. Sure enough, Unit 00 was struggling to its feet, fluid still dripping from the vicious gut wound.

"Rei!"

The damaged EVA grasped at a nearby building, pulling itself up. Bits of rubble fell away as its powerful fingers dug into the concrete walls. Several large chunks tumbled down, threatening to dislodge Unit 00's grasp, but through sheer determination Rei managed to pull the damaged EVA to its feet. The Angel gave no indication that it even acknowledged Rei's presence, continuing simply to stand in its seemingly meditative position.

"Rei, are you all right?" Misato asked.

"Yes, Major Katsuragi." Rei's voice was strained from pain and stress. "I am able to continue. The mission is not yet complete."

She sounded far from all right, but under the present circumstances Misato was of no mind to bring her back unless absolutely necessary. The survival of mankind was at stake.

"She's right," Ritsuko said, entering the bridge and returning to her station. "We've been given a second chance We have to take it."

Misato nodded. "Rei, if you can do it, I am ordering you to engage the target. Exterminate with extreme prejudice!"

Straightening up, Rei moved her EVA in line with the Angel and charged. Still the Angel did not move.

Unit 00 kept charging. The Angel continued to ignore it.

_What's going on?_ Misato wondered. _Why doesn't it defend itself?_

At the last second, just before Rei slammed Unit 00 into the Angel's flank, it turned and whipped both tentacles out at its assailant.

"Rei, watch out! Misato cried.

But Rei was already prepared. Twisting her EVA sideways, she slipped between the oncoming tentacles and, putting the EVA's weight squarely on the undamaged leg, delivered a vicious side-kick to the Angel's exposed chest. Unfortunately, due to earlier damage, the injured leg did not extend accurately and merely glanced off of the side of the Angel's core, sending the beast stumbling backwards. The material was surprisingly brittle, however, and a good-sized chunk along the core's edge virtually disintegrated beneath the powerful blow.

The Angel staggered back, howling and whipping its tentacles toward one another in an attempt to sandwich the offending EVA. Rei gracefully took Unit 00 through a back handspring out of the Angel's attack range (an amazing feat considering the extensive damage to Unit 00's leg and abdomen) and planted the EVA's feet solidly on the ground, ready for round two.

The Angel struck again with the right tentacle, a horizontal strike that Rei easily dodged. The creature struck once more, but she quickly dodged again, quickly, almost effortlessly. The beast continued with a series of alternating strikes from both tentacles, but Rei easily evaded each blow or deflected them using Unit 00's powerful forearms.

Rei's piloting skills were working on overdrive, obviously outclassing the Angel in combat ability, but still she was unarmed and unable to get within the Angel's long attack range to strike at the core. It looked like a stalemate. If this kept up, Rei would be in trouble; unlike humans, Angels had never been known to fatigue.

Misato's mind raced, desperately trying to come up with some way to help Rei. She could think of nothing.

_It's all up to you, Rei. I'm sorry._

The Angel reared back, roaring. Again its right tentacle raised high into the air, coiling with power at the height of its arc. The jagged crystalline blades sparkled as they whipped through the air on a collision course with Unit 00. The EVA didn't budge.

"Rei!" Misato cried out.

Unit 00's hands shot out, meeting the attack head-on. To the astonishment of the NERV bridge crew, she stopped the tentacle cold, bending Unit 00's knees and twisting slightly at the hip to more evenly distribute the shock.

"She... she caught it," Makato said.

The Angel brought the other tentacle back and whipped it towards Unit 00. Releasing one hand from the first tentacle, Rei seized this one as well. The EVA slid backward from the force of the blow feet, but stood firm.

Misato's voice was almost a whisper.

"Incredible."

The two behemoths grappled, drenched in each other's gore. Through sheer force of will Rei kept the Angel at bay, despite its superior mass and leverage.

"Move it Wonder Girl!"

It was Asuka in Unit 02, revitalized and ready to finish what she began. She thumbed the switch on her broken progressive knife, extending a fresh blade from the hilt, and charged forward to re-join the battle.

"Yeah, Asuka!" Misato was genuinely excited. "Finish 'em off!"

Reinforcing her grip, Rei pulled the Angel towards her in a final burst of strength. Off balance, the creature stumbled forward, right into Auka's attack as she leapt over Unit 00's head, aiming straight for the core.

"Die, scheisskopf!" Asuka cried.

The core completely shattered under Unit 02's assault, the brittle material providing no resistance whatsoever. The Evangelion's arm plunged deep into the Angel's chest, sending up an enormous gout of gory fluid and spattering both EVAs with blood and bits of Angel organs. The tentacles thrashed, then fell limp as the Angel unleashed a bone-chilling, otherworldly shriek. A small, mangled, orb-like shape rose out from above the shattered core. It was completely black, and roughly three times the size of an Evangelion's head.

Misato's eyes widened. "The Twelfth Angel... it can't be!"

A crack appeared, running down the side of the orb. Blood welled up in the crack and began to stream down the side, dripping onto the ground.

Asuka twisted the knife, still buried deep in the Angel's body. The orb gushed blood as a spider web of cracks spread out along its surface, then burst, splattering the surrounding area and drenching the EVAs in a thick coat of red gore. Whisps of black, cloudy vapor rose up into the air, dissipating into nothingness. The Angel slumped over, held upright by Unit 02's arm, still embedded in its body. Asuka withdrew the knife, and the Angel collapsed to the ground, motionless.

"The target has gone silent," Makato reported. "No vital signs detected."

Misato sighed, relieved. "Rei, Asuka, good work out there."

She looked up at Gendou. He said nothing, continuing to stare at the viewscreen, hands folded in front of his face. His expression gave no clue as to what he might be thinking.

* * *

The world was hazy. Shinji tried to focus his vision, but everything was just a blur.

_Where am I?_

He saw shapes , fading in and out around him. Comforting shapes. Familiar shapes.

_My past... these are my memories from when I was a child. But it's been so long. Things are blurry, out of focus._

He recognized one shape in particular; from the outline he could tell it was a person. The figure drifted closer, arms outstretched.

_Mother._ The figure gradually came into focus, and he could begin to make out the kind, soft features of Yui Ikari. He felt the complete calm and peacefulness of a child as she wrapped him in her embrace, holding him tight. Shinji gave in to this warmth, this love. He forgot all about the Angel, all about the Evangelions and everything that had happened since he came to Tokyo 3. For this brief moment in time, he was a child, reunited with his mother once again.

Shinji looked up at his mother's face. She was smiling at him, lovingly, the way a mother smiles at her child. As he gazed into her face, he saw a reflection of Rei's features. His mother's face seemed to melt, softly. It seemed almost natural as her features blurred and became those of Rei. Her frame diminished, and soon Shinji found himself holding the delicate frame of Rei as a child. She snuggled against him, resting. He could sense her complete trust in him.

Seeing Rei brought his mind back to the present and recent events. He remembered where he was, and what was happening. He looked down again at the still form of Rei, and he understood.

_The Angel..._

It was like a child; after the battle it had been severely damaged, it's cognitive capacity shattered. Lost and alone, it had sought out the only mind that seemed familiar.

_My dreams._

It had been trying to contact him, but the connection was weak. Desperate, it had sought him out through the EVA's neural link.

Rei clutched at him, her small fingers digging into his skin. Her face contorted in a look of pain as she writhed in agony.

_What's wrong?_

Her back arched, eyes widening, her mouth open in a silent scream. Shinji tried to calm her, to soothe her as he remembered his mother doing when he was a child.

Then pain struck him as well. He fell to his knees, losing his grip on her as his vision blurred in and out of focus. He looked over at Rei. Blood poured from her eyes as her physical body began to evaporate in black whisps.

His eyes snapped shut again as the pain intensified. It felt as if someone was stomping directly through his skull and into his brain, mercilessly pounding his every thought into a squishy goo. He tried to fight it, but was quickly overwhelmed. He couldn't see, couldn't think; he could hardly even move.

He screamed.

* * *

The mood in the NERV command center was almost lighthearted. After the intensity of the day's events, they were all feeling a little giddy; that is, except for Fuyutsuki and Gendou, of course.

"All right," Misato said, "Rei, Asuka, return to the cage via catapults five and six. Good work, today. We're very proud of you."

"Acknowledged." Rei sounded less enthusiastic than usual.

_She must be tired_, Misato thought.

"It's too bad the Invincible Shinji wasn't here to help out," Asuka said, sounding confident as always. "Well that just goes to show that us _little girls_ can get along just fine, even without him."

Misato's grin faded as she remembered the scene in the cage earlier that day.

"Shinji... how is he, Ritsuko?"

Ritsuko brought up his neurological data on the monitor. She was surprised to find that the abnormalities she had discerned earlier were nowhere to be found. There was some internal scarring, but no permanent damage. It had been close...

"His thought patterns seem to be returning to normal."

"No neural echo detected," Maya said. "Feedback is within acceptable parameters."

"Good." Misato exhaled, slowly, finally starting to relax.

Throughout the command center red lights began to flash, accompanied by warning klaxons.

"What's going on!" Misato demanded.

"The Magi have unanimously declared a level five emergency!" Shigeru reported. "The Angel has resumed active status!"

"What!" Misato jerked her head toward the viewscreen. Sure enough, the battered Angel was climbing to its feet.

"It can't be!" Maya cried.

Even Ritsuko was caught off-guard by this sudden development.

"But... its core was destroyed! How can it be moving?"

"It must have multiple cores," Misato said, taking command again. "Scan for the location of the new core!"

Makato obeyed, entering the data into his console.

"Scanning... no core detected!"

"WHAT! Misato exclaimed. "That's impossible! No Angel can function without an active core!"

"Regeneration?" Fuyutski asked, lowering his voice so only Gendou could hear. "But how... this level of reanimation is beyond even the capabilities of the S2 engine. And without a core..."

"Evolution," Gendou replied grimly.

"You can't mean..."

"Yes. S3 engine."

Fuyutsuki was unable to hide his concern.

"But that was little more than a theory! Even SEELE is unaware of the possibility-"

"It would seem theory has now become reality," Gendou interjected. "We have no choice but to deal with it."

"Can we... _deal_ with it?"

"We shall see," Gendou replied.

"Rei, Asuka, can you hear me?" Misato asked. "The target has revived itself."

"What?" Asuka bellowed, loud enough to make Misato cringe away from the com. "You mean it got back up?"

"That's exactly what I mean. We're not done yet."

"This thing is really getting on my nerves," Asuka grumbled.

"Rei," continued Misato, "Your EVA took the most damage last time. Can you continue?"

"Yes, Major Katsuragi," Rei responded, her normally calm voice infused with resolve. "As long as I am still alive, I will pilot Unit 00. And I am not dead yet."

"I'm sending you some fresh supplies. Get ready."

"Understood."

Misato turned back to face the monitor. The Angel was standing now, fluids pouring from its ruined torso like a grisly waterfall. Its flesh pulsed, as though something squirmed beneath.

* * *

"Scheisse," Asuka muttered, lifting two huge submachine guns from the weapons rack. "Why won't it just stay dead?"

"It does not matter," Rei said, equipping Unit 00 with a new prog knife and her trademark sniper rifle. "We will kill it again. It must be done."

"I know that!" Asuka snapped. "All right, Misato, we're ready. Let's get this over with."

"Affirmative, Asuka. Our readings show the AT field is still down. Keep your distance and avoid hand to hand combat if possible."

Units 00 and 02 approached the Angel cautiously. Rei took up position at a distance, balancing her EVA against several nearby structures for greater balance and precision. Asuka moved in closer to the Angel, using Tokyo-3's maze of skyscrapers to cover her advance. Pressing Unit 02's back against the wall of a nearby building, she peeked around the corner to get a better view of her target.

"I'm in position," she hissed over the com. "Ready to move on your command."

"I am in position as well," Rei added.

Rei, you will be in charge of initiating the attack," Misato said. "Asuka, once she has fired, you are free to engage as well."

"Got it," Asuka replied.

Planting Unit 00's feet firmly against her support structure, Rei centered the target in her reticule. The Angel's body was nothing but a pulpy mass. With no clear objective to shoot at, she focused her aim on what was left of the torso and fired.

The heavy round struck dead center, easily ripping through the Angel's flesh and spraying even more of its fluids and entrails about. Rei squeezed the trigger several more times, punching an even bigger hole through the heart of the beast.

Right on cue, Asuka spun around the corner and opened fire with her dual SMGs. Without its protective armor or an active AT field, the Angel was totally defenseless. The rapid-fire rounds tore into the Angel's exposed flesh as the heavy slugs from Rei's rifle pounded it relentlessly. The beast staggered backward under the combined assault, then toppled backward into an artificial lake of its own blood and gore. Rei and Asuka ceased firing, waiting for further instructions.

"Report!" Misato barked. "Did we get it this time?"

"I'm getting some unusual readings," Makato replied. "Alpha decay is increasing exponentially, and bioelectricity levels are off the scale!"

A translucent, crystalline shape rose out of the Angel's shattered body. Light from the setting sun reflected off its surfaces, giving it an orange hue.

"Is that an AT field?" Misato asked.

"It has some similarities to an AT field," Ritsuko said, "but it is completely different. Run the data through the Magi in a direct query."

"Processing..." Shigeru responded. "Code 601! Data cannot be analyzed!"

_Then we're back where we started_, Misato thought. _An unknown enemy..._

"Rei, get ready to fire one shot on my command. Asuka, get clear. I don't know what this is going to do."

"All right," Asuka said, moving away. She did not sound happy about it.

Once she was a good distance away, Misato gave the order to fire. Rei centered the target in her scope once again and pulled the trigger.

The heavy round deflected off the crystalline surfaces and punched straight through a line of nearby buildings before losing its momentum, leaving a trail of powdered mist and debris. Misato grimaced, not at the excessive property damage but at the complete ineffectiveness of the attack.

"Useless," Misato grumbled, frustrated. "No effect at all."

"Not entirely useless," Ritsuko corrected her. "The feedback data we recorded shows that the shield's _deflective_ properties are almost identical to that of an AT field, only amplified. That means that we should be able to use some of the same methods that penetrate a normal AT field, if we increase their power to match."

"But where are we going to find something like that?" Misato asked.

Ritsuko turned to her assistant. "Launch the prototype in catapult number four."

Maya's eyes widened. "But we haven't even tested it yet. We have no idea if it's even safe to use-"

"Do it!" Ritsuko ordered.

"Yes ma'am," Maya complied.

"Asuka, we're sending you some additional equipment," Ritsuko said. "This thing's shell may be hard, but that doesn't mean we can't still crack it."

Asuka wasted no time making her way over to pick it up. The catapult clicked into place, its door sliding away to reveal the contents within: a gigantic, EVA-sized axe.

"This looks just like the axe I used last time," Asuka said, sounding disappointed.

"That is the Progressive Axe Mark II," Ritsuko corrected. "It was designed using the same high-frequency vibration techniques as the progressive knife, but it also has the added feature of emitting a high-frequency scrambling wave that, in theory, should cut directly into the wavelength of an AT field. Normally, a 'test strike' would be necessary to determine the proper frequency needed to penetrate that particular AT field, but the data we got from Rei's shot should be sufficient. I'm transmitting it directly to the progressive axe's memory unit now. However, the technology _is_ still untested, so we cannot guarantee it will even work."

"There's only one way to find out," Asuka said, taking the axe into Unit 02's powerful grasp. Turning quickly, she headed back toward the Angel's position.

"So... what exactly did all that mean?" Misato asked, blushing slightly.

"Well, to put it simply, all she should have to do is hit it," Ritsuko said, smirking slightly at her friend's embarrassment. "If the technology works, that is."

"Asuka, move in and prepare to engage," Misato commanded, slipping back into her professional role. "Rei, move in as well and back her up."

"Understood," Rei replied, abandoning her sniper post and moving in near Asuka, who was already in position. She drew her prog knife, preparing herself for close-range combat, should the situation call for it.

Asuka approached the target, peering inside. She could see a dim outline behind the barrier, curled up in what seemed to be the fetal position. It reminded her of the 8th Angel Sandalphon, whom NERV had discovered in an embryonic state deep within the bowels of an active volcano.

"I see something inside," she said simply, knowing the bridge crew had access to her external sensors if they wished for a more thorough description.

And they did just that, using image enhancement to get a better view of the creature.

"It appears to be some sort of chrysalis," Ritsuko hypothesized, looking at the image intently. "I don't know what's in there, but I'm pretty sure we don't want to find out. We should destroy it before it has a chance to fully develop."

"That's the idea," Misato replied. "All right, Asuka, hit it with everything you've got."

"Right," Asuka replied, lifting the huge weapon over Unit 02's head. "Now die, goddamn you!"

She brought the massive blade down with every ounce of strength she could muster. The impact sent up a shower of sparks and knocked Unit 02 backward a few steps. When the air cleared, there was no indication that the field was even scratched.

"It... it didn't work," she said, disappointed.

Ritsuko's fingers sped over her keyboard as she analyzed the data, trying to determine what went wrong.

"The wavelength has changed," she said, thinking. "Asuka, hit it again, but don't bother swinging too hard. I just need to get another reading."

Asuka obeyed, the blade deflecting off the Angel's shield yet again.

"It appears that the field is capable of modulating its own phase pulse," Ritsuko said. "By the time we enter the data from the first attack into the progressive axe, it changes."

"Clever bastard," Misato fumed. "You can't hit it the same way twice..."

"Rei, I want you to move in and hit it 8 times with the prog knife as fast as you can," Ritsuko ordered.

Rei voiced an affirmative, then moved in. She struck quickly, whipping Unit 00's arm back and forth in a flurry of aggression. Sparks flew from each point of contact as the blade ground along the surface of the shield.

The wheels turned in Ritsuko's mind as she calculated the data, a plan already forming in her mind.

"Maya, set up a direct feed between the Magi computer systems and the progressive axe, then link it to the input stream from our computers here."

"I'm on it," Maya replied, her fingers already working their way around the keyboard.

"What did you have in mind?" Misato asked, intrigued by her friend's behavior.

"There is a window of about seven tenths of a second before the Angel can effectively alter the field," Ritsuko replied. "If Rei hits it and we use the data to transmit the proper frequency to the progressive axe before it connects, it should be able to penetrate. It's a very small window and will require very precise timing, but if we let the Magi handle the data processing I think we can do it."

"Rei, did you catch all of that?" Misato asked.

"Yes, Major Katsuragi."

"Good. Prepare to attack on my mark. Asuka, start swinging as soon as Rei hits the shield."

Maya quickly pressed a few more keys and struck the return key.

"Everything is ready, Major."

Misato took a deep breath. "Do it Rei!"

Rei struck, her blade glancing off the shield yet again. Almost at the same moment, Asuka brought the axe down onto the shield, lodging the edge of the blade in the shimmering barrier. It wasn't much, but it was through.

"The progressive axe has penetrated the barrier!" Maya reported excitedly.

Asuka put one of Unit 02's legs up on the shield for leverage as she pulled the axe free. She raised it again, preparing to strike.

"Again!" Misato commanded.

Again Rei struck, followed almost instantly by Asuka. Again the axe bit into the shield, deeper this time. As she pulled the weapon free again, Asuka glanced inside at the growing embryo.

"It's getting bigger, Misato," she said nervously, yanking the axe free.

Misato clenched her fists, hardening her resolve.

"Just keep going," she said. "Strike!"

Rei struck. Asuka followed suit, driving the axe into the same spot for a third time, penetrating even deeper. The creature within squirmed as she pulled it out again, preparing to deliver another blow.

Before Misato could give the order, two huge, clawed hands burst forth from within the shield, grasping both sides of the cut made by the progressive axe. Smoothly, almost effortlessly the powerful arms tore the field apart to either side. Startled, Asuka took a few steps backward as the beast emerged.

"It's emerging!" Maya exclaimed.

"It's sooner than we expected," Ritsuko noted grimly.

Recovering from her initial shock, Asuka brought the axe down at the emerging Angel. An arm shot out, catching the axe by its handle. Just meters away from the blade's edge, red eyes shone from the depths of the rapidly-dissipating energy shell.

"Du scheißkerl! Let. Go. Of. _That_!"

The Angel wrenched the axe from her grasp, sending Unit 02 tumbling off to the side as it emerged, revealing its entire body for the first time.

The bridge crew could only stare in shock.

The newborn Angel looked frighteningly close to an Evangelion, particularly Unit 01: the reptilian head, the humanoid body, the narrow slits for eyes beneath the armored exterior. It was entirely black, save for a few streaks of silver down its back and the sides of its legs, and the smoldering red pits of its eyes.

Lifting the progressive axe to its jaws, it bit down. The metal screeched as the Angel's powerful fangs ground into the handle, snapping it completely in half. The ruined pieces tumbled to ground as the Angel roared, a terrible cry that echoed in the very souls of all who heard it.

* * *

Shinji's eyes flickered open. Fluid filled his mouth and lungs. He gagged.

_I'm drowning!_

He tried to move, thrashing around desperately as he encountered the restraints holding him in place.

_Restraints._

He quickly calmed down, realizing where he was. He stopped fighting the LCL that filled his lungs, feeding life-giving oxygen directly through the alveoli to his bloodstream.

_Unit 01._

He checked himself for injuries, moving his various joints and limbs, bringing his mind fully into focus. Despite the remembered pain, he seemed to be physically unharmed. Looking around the cage, he could see a few technicians scattered about, mostly engaged in idle conversation or routinely checking equipment. They all kept a safe distance from Unit 01, lest it should suddenly reactivate and go berserk again.  
Tentatively, Shinji switched on the com.

"Mi... Misato?"

Misato's attention snapped to the com.

"Shinji? Are you all right?"

"I... I think so." He sounded uncertain.

"There's been an Angel attack," Misato told him. "Units 00 and 02 have sustained heavy damage, but they're still fighting. Asuka and Rei-"

Gendou cut her off, speaking for the first time since the Angel had "hatched." His voice was stern and cold, as always.

"Shinji. Can you pilot Unit 01?"

"Father?"

"Can you pilot it?" Gendou repeated, raising his voice slightly.

Shinji took a deep breath.

"Yes," he replied.

"Very well. Major Katsuragi, Launch Unit 01 immediately."

"Yes, Commander."

* * *

Asuka watched in dismay as the Angel bit the progressive axe in half, the tough metal splintering as if it were made from little more than bamboo. Picking Unit 02 up from where it had fallen, she glared at the creature.

"Du hurensohn," she growled. "I was really starting to like that thing."

Unsheathing her progressive knife, she charged forward, Unit 02's feet pounding into the concrete as she closed to combat range. Sensing the Angel's AT field spreading, Asuka concentrated on amplifying her own. The two fields clashed, energy crackling between them.

"Come on!" Asuka urged. "Neutralize, damn you!"

The Angel's field surged; Asuka yelped in pain as her own field collapsed and Unit 02 was thrown backwards, slamming into a skyscraper.

Rei came rushing to her aid, concentrating her own AT field against the very same spot where Asuka had been. Sparks flared, and a small opening appeared. Rei gritted her teeth, forcing all her concentration on neutralizing the AT field.

Climbing out of the rubble, Asuka brought Unit 02 back in, adding her own field to the mix. The hole widened, until finally it was large enough for Unit 00's arm to pass through. Seizing the opportunity, Rei thrust her knife through the opening on a collision course with the Angel's chest.

The knife grated against the chest armor, but did no real damage. Frustrated, Rei felt her concentration slipping. Desperately, she struck again as the hole began to diminish. The Angel's arm shot out to meet the blow, the knife tip striking dead center on the Angel's palm, shattering the blade.

The Angel clenched its grip around Unit 00's extended hand. With a series of sickening cracks and pops, the EVA's hand deformed completely, fingers bending back and twisting into shapes they were never meant to become.

The bridge crew watched helplessly as Rei howled in agony, her useless knife hilt dropping from the mangled appendage. Her AT field collapsed, and Unit 00 went limp in the Angel's grasp as its pilot plunged toward the brink of unconsciousness, her exhausted mind and body overwhelmed with pain.

Without the aid of Unit 00's AT field, Asuka could feel herself losing ground. She closed her eyes, concentrating as hard as she could on maintaining her own field.

So hard, in fact, that she failed to notice Misato's cry of warning as the Angel lifted Unit 00 into the air with one hand. She did notice, however, when the Angel swung the helpless Evangelion like a club, obliterating her AT field and bashing Unit 02 aside, sending the entangled EVAs crashing in a heap. The Angel flexed its claws, joints cracking ominously as it stalked over to the fallen Evangelions, red eyes glowing with malicious intent.

* * *

"Shinji, where the hell are you!"

Misato's voice was edged with panic as the Angel approached the vulnerable Evangelions.

A burst of machine gun fire answered her as Unit 01 came into view, opening fire on the Angel's exposed flank. It was a futile gesture, as the rounds bounced harmlessly off its powerful AT field, but it was enough to draw the Angel's attention away from Rei and Asuka. The Angel's maw curled in a menacing leer as it turned to face this unwelcome newcomer.

Shinji held down the trigger, emptying the magazine as he closed the distance between himself and his target. He discarded the useless weapon and drew his progressive knife, dashing forward to engage the Angel, who simply stared, motionless, at the approaching EVA. Shinji brought the progressive knife up in front of him as he closed in for the kill, preparing to plunge it into the Angel's chest.

Misato grimaced as calmly, almost casually, the Angel backhanded Unit 01 through a nearby building, briefly leaving a silhouette reminiscent of the cartoons she had watched as a child before the building crumbled into a pile of wreckage.

_It's too powerful!_ she thought, alarmed. _How can we even hope to defeat it?_

She pushed away the idea, memories flashing through her mind. She couldn't give up now. Her lust for revenge would not allow it.

"Get up, Shinji," she muttered. "Get. _Up_."

Shinji's eyes flickered open, his mind still reeling from the blow. He'd been hit before while piloting, even felt the pain of losing limbs; but he had never experienced that kind of sheer _force_.

"Get up, Shinji."

His eyes flickered slightly at the sound of that familiar voice. He tried to speak, but found himself unable to form words. His eyelids drooped as he drifted away into the comforting sea of nothingness.

"Get. _Up_."

_Misato's voice._

He shook his head, fighting against the darkness that threatened to consume his consciousness. He felt pain coursing through his body. Every part of him ached, all the way through to his soul. He just wanted to go home.

_I mustn't run away. I mustn't run away. I mustn't run away..._

Blinking away the dark clouds hovering at the edges of his vision, he grasped his at his controls, fumbling at first, but finally managing to secure them in his grasp. Shinji gathered his strength, willing his EVA to rise.

This turned out to be unnecessary; the Angel was done playing games. Knocking aside the rubble and debris, it grasped Unit 01 by the throat and dragged it from the depths of the ruined edifice, holding the Evangelion aloft with one hand.

Shinji could feel his throat constricting, as if the Angel's hand was clenched around his own neck. He did not struggle. He did not panic, nor did he attempt to cry out. He couldn't; he was mesmerized by the Angel's stare, locked into his own, as if the creature could see right through Unit 01's armor (which, for all Shinji knew, maybe it could). But it was not the eyes themselves that so transfixed his gaze, but rather the soul behind them. Or lack thereof. The fiery orbs burned with a savage radiance, but all he could sense was rage, hate, and perhaps even a hint of fear. He saw only death.

_No... soul_, Shinji thought. _The Angel... it's gone._

He felt a profound sadness. The Angel had indeed tried to communicate with him, of this he was certain. Lost, lonely, and afraid, it had come seeking him, the only familiar presence. In the end, he believed it had finally found some measure of peace within his memories, a peace that he himself had long searched for but never found.

But now it was gone. All that remained was this empty vessel, a shattered semblance of its former self. The grip tightened, and Shinji felt himself fading. He gave in. Why should he live in a world so full of pain?

"Shinj!" Misato cried. "SHINJI!"

Shinji's eyes snapped open as he heard Misato's voice. He felt a familiar presence prodding at his oxygen-deprived mind, as if asking to be let in. His vision fading, he gave in to that entity, allowing the ethereal presence to flow into him, clearing his mind of all distractions. His memories faded; all traces of his past and future slipped from his mind. He knew only the present moment, his only focus on the task at hand.

A final human thought slipped through his mind as he embraced the otherworldly entity, merging their wills as one.

_Mother..._

"I'm reading increased energy levels in Unit 01!" Hyuga reported. "Power output is at 90 percent, 98 percent, 120 percent, 250 percent... It's off the scale!"

Unit 01's eyes narrowed into slits, their eerie glow cutting through the fading twilight like twin beacons of destruction. The Evangelion thrust out its left arm, grasping the Angel by its own neck. Too late, the Angel released its grip, trying to back away, as if it sensed the change in Unit 01's demeanor. The purple EVA tightened its grip, pulling the Angel closer, face to face. With the other hand it pounded into the Angel's forehead, once, twice, three times. Unit 01 was relentless, continuing the destructive assault as the Angel's facial armor began to crack.

"Berserk?" Misato whispered.

""I don't think so," Ritsuko said. "This is something else. Something... different."

The Angel's faceplate cracked open, shattered armor tumbling to the pavement below. Beneath it vulnerable flesh quivered, muscle tissue flexing as the Angel's jaw opened and closed helplessly.

Unit 01 lowered its attack, its powerful fist slamming into the Angel's torso armor. Soon that began to crack as well beneath the punishing assault. Blood flowed freely from the wounds, dripping down the EVA's arm to puddle in the broken pavement.

With a thunderous roar, the EVA thrust its claws into the wound, seizing the soft mass beneath and it tearing it away. The Angel screeched, struggling to free itself, but the Evangelion's grasp was too strong. Unit 01 drove its claws into the Angel once more, deeper this time, ripping away the squishy flesh and organs without mercy. Again and again the claws sank into the Angel's body, emerging seconds later clutching more of the beast's innards.

The bridge crew looked on in disgust. Even Misato, whose heart had long ago closed off to the suffering of Angels, was sickened. Maya tried desperately not to vomit, her face a sickly shade of gray. Gendou stared ahead, hands folded in front of his chin, seemingly unaffected. If anyone had bothered to look, they might have detected the slightest hint of a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.

Unit 01 howled, slamming the crippled Angel to the ground. Slamming a palm into the Angel's forehead, the EVA bent down, sinking its fangs into the Angel's throat, pulverizing the armor and tearing away the flesh beneath. Letting the flesh drop from its grisly maw, it raised a fist, then brought it crashing down on the creature's head in a spray of gore. The Angel was silent.

The glow from Unit 01's eyes diminished. The blood-spattered EVA stood motionless over the prone Angel, as if contemplating what it had done. There was silence.

The Angel snarled, a sound which more closely resembled a gurgling choke, and launched itself up at the motionless Evangelion, driving it to the ground, grasping both hands about the EVA's neck. Blood streaming from dozens of grievous wounds, the Angel slammed Unit 01's head into the ground, bellowing with unbridled ferocity.

"Du weisel spatz kaiffer ficker!" Asuka cried, charging in from behind, the progressive axe's broken blade held over her head like a tomahawk. "Die!"

The axe came down, cleaving vertically through the Angel's head and lodging halfway into its chest before running out of momentum. The Angel twitched, then fell limp atop the prone body of Unit 01, the axe still buried in its flesh.

Shinji stared blankly at the remnants of its ruined head, the entity withdrawing from his mind. An eyeball hung limply from its socket, fluids sliding off its slick surface to splash into the vast puddle below. It stared at him, lifeless, accusing.

He felt nothing. No remorse. No fear. No relief. Only emptiness. He closed his eyes, slipping at last into the comforting void of unconsciousness.

A bird twittered in the background as the last vestiges of the sun sank below the horizon, enveloping the city in darkness.

* * *

The Council's displeasure was evident in Chairman Keel's voice.

"This was not a part of our scenario, Ikari."

"The effects on the scenario are negligible," Gendou countered. "The threat was successfully neutralized."

"Nonetheless, this operation was sloppy. The damage incurred by Units 00 and 02 is unacceptable, not to mention the numerous civilian casualties. Not even NERV Intelligence will be able to suppress it _this_ time."

"The situation is under control. Repairs to the damaged EVAs will finish shortly, and the media situation will be dealt with. It is simply a matter of applying... _pressure._"

"Your excuses are becoming tiresome, Ikari. We have been quite displeased with your recent performance. Do _not_ disappoint us again."

With that, the Council's holographic images vanished, leaving Gendou and Fuyutsuki alone in the conference chamber.

"It seems you were correct," Fuyutsuki commented. "The Council is too busy rewriting their precious scenario to thoroughly investigate the... 'incident,' as you so eloquently put it."

"Indeed. However, the project must still be abandoned."

"Yes. Perhaps the duplication process was too unstable after all, as Dr. Anderson predicted. The core should not have even been able to _activate_ on its own without extensive protein therapy, let alone synchronize with necrotic tissue."

"Anderson is a fool. Deviation within the synthetic material was well within acceptable limits. However, with the proper combination of ionized proteins in a concentrated LCL solution, it would be a simple matter to trigger uncontrolled molecular replication."

"That would also explain the increased capacity for evolution and the advanced rate of molecular decay. But the only place where someone could acquire the proper materials for such a procedure is here in our own laboratories. How could we have let such a tremendous breach of security happen right under our noses?"

"It would seem that Dr. Bennet's loyalties were decidedly less genuine than we had suspected."

"I see. Then his falling out with Anderson was equally counterfeit."

"It is of no concern," Gendou said, dismissing the matter. "The situation is being... taken care of."

Fuyutsuki knew exactly what that meant. Somewhere in the bowels of NERV HQ, the unfortunate Dr. Bennet was being 'interrogated' by several of NERV's best agents. There was a slight chance he might survive the ordeal; a couple of pistol rounds would take care of that.

"The destruction of NERV Japan Branch," Fuyutsuki mused. "Exposure of our research to SEELE. And on top of it all, NERV Second Branch would become the leading edge of Project E. Clever, but sloppy. It reeks of Anderson."

He paused, thinking.

"You know, once he finds out his plot was a failure, it is only a matter of time before he betrays us to SEELE."

"Yes, he always was one to save his own skin," Gendou replied. "However, I have made some... arrangements... with a few of our associates in Prague. The situation will be dealt with soon enough."

"Prague... they always were quite thorough."

Gendou nodded.

"Quite thorough indeed."

* * *

Water cascaded over the surface of Unit 01, washing away the last few streaks of gore. Misato stared intently at its menacing visage, as if trying to decipher its thoughts. A fine mist settled on her orange raincoat. Ritsuko stood next to her in similar attire.

"So how is he?" Ritsuko asked.

"Hm?" Misato glanced over at her friend, drawn from her reverie.

"Shinji. How is he?" Ritsuko repeated.

"He just woke up. Physically, he is unharmed."

"And mentally?"

"He doesn't remember anything after the synch test."

"Knowing him, I'd say that's probably a good thing. What about the other children?"

"They're both a little banged up, but they'll be fine. The real damage was inflicted on the EVAs. Speaking of which, how are they coming along?"

"Unit 00 was the most heavily damaged, but aside from the right leg and torso the damage was mostly superficial. We should have it back to operational status by the end of the week."

The two women gazed at the still form of Unit 01, submerged in the cleansing fluids.

"Even cleaned and restrained it still manages to look menacing," Misato said. "Especially when you consider everything that's happened lately. Can we really trust the EVAs?"

"We don't have a choice," Ritsuko replied. "Nothing else has the power to combat the Angels. The only hope for humanity lies with them."

* * *

Late-afternoon sunlight filtered into the office of Commander Gendou Ikari. The commander himself was seated at his desk, as usual, looking up at the man standing across from him. Shadows obscured his features and melded with his dark clothing, giving him a wraith-like appearance.

Gendou opened a desk drawer, withdrawing a large metallic briefcase. He set the case on his desk, opened it, and slid it across the smooth surface.

"I trust that this will be adequate compensation," he said.

The shadowy figure gazed briefly at its contents, nodding in agreement. Closing the case and securing its locks, he turned and melded back into the shadows. The office door opened, then closed with a click, echoing briefly before fading away altogether. It was quiet.

Gendou leaned back, his hands folded in front of his chin, pausing briefly to appreciate the soft humming of fully-functional air conditioning units. Soon the meddling Dr. Anderson would cease to be a problem, along with the rest of his pesky research team at NERV Second Branch.

A small smile spread across Gendou's face; it had been a _very_ good day.

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**END**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

Insert original "Fourth Child" Next Episode thingy from episode 16.

Well, that's my fic. Thanks for taking the time to read it. I hope you liked it, because I sure as hell enjoyed writing it. Even if you hated it, you still totally kick ass for reading through the whole thing. Either way, if you would take the time to review it, I would be infinitely grateful. Infinite. That's a lot. How can you pass that up?

In retrospect I suppose the plot was a bit weak overall, as it really didn't add much to the EVA universe or change anything major. I'm not very good at writing dialogue or character interaction, so that pretty much just leaves me with action sequences, and there isn't much room for plot in those. But whatever; maybe it'll be better next time.

Special Thanks:

Gendou Ikari, for being so damn cool.

The Evincar, for helping to enhance my already-massive EVA obsession to a new level, and helping me come up with random ideas. Also, I'd like to thank insultmonger for the lovely German curses. Ich steche dir die augen raus und pisse dir ins gehirn, du kleines schwules arschloch!

-K.G.


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